Update: Homeless Man to be Reunited with Family

NORTH WILDWOOD – Most of us have been in James Clifford’s shoes at one point or another. We misplace a Social Security card, our license gets lost or stolen, we can’t find a birth certificate. A quick trip to the DMV, Social Security Administration office or letter sent to the Bureau of Vital Statistics with the appropriate documentation and perhaps a few dollars solves the problem.
But what happens when you lose everything and have no documentation of identity? That’s what happened to Clifford. The 45-year-old man is now living on the streets because he can’t provide an employer, or a landlord, documentation of his identity.
Since this story was published on March 31, research done by a reporter and Clifford’s friend, John Quinn, has provided the names of several family members in New York who will be coming to the area to reunite with Clifford.
Clifford worked for years as a carnival roustabout. “I worked everywhere,” he said as he sat on the deck of a local man who is trying to help Clifford regain his identity. “From New York to Florida. They pay you $20 a day from September to the second week of June,” he said. In the busy season, “we got paid about $300 a week.”
Clifford lost that job when carnival management let personnel go, replacing them with illegal workers. “Lots of carnivals are doing that,” he said.
Let go May 20, 2011, nine days later Clifford found work with a man who traveled throughout the country selling sunglasses and motorcycle accessories.
“We went from New York to Kentucky, to Iowa and to Ohio.” According to Clifford, unlike his previous job that employed many, his job with the sunglass dealer was just the two of them – Clifford and the dealer.
“He told me he was going to pay me $60 a day,” said Clifford. “But I never saw a dime. Trying to get your pay out of him every week was like trying to pull a tooth out of a stone.”
Clifford said he didn’t leave the sunglass dealer because the man kept him too busy. The two would stay in motels, or sleep in a van or in a tent.
Roar to the Shore weekend found Clifford and the sun glass dealer in Wildwood. That’s when trouble began. According to Clifford, Sun., Sept. 11, 2011 is a day he will never forget.
After arguing with the sunglass dealer, Clifford walked away from the display “to cool down.” When he returned to the spot where he and the dealer had set up shop everything was gone, including Clifford’s worldly goods. Inside the van Clifford had left his wallet, his clothes, his lap top and DVD player.
“He was gone and everything else was gone,” said Clifford. “I stayed there thinking he would come back. When I realized he wasn’t coming back I flagged down some cops and told them what happened.”
Making his way to Wildwood police headquarters, Clifford filled out a police report. The homeless man told the police he knew the dealer’s first name – Russ, but did not know his last name or the license plate number of the van he traveled in. All that he knew was the license plate was from Florida.
“I told them I used to live in Dayton, New York,” said Clifford, “And I told them now I didn’t have any place.”
Since then Clifford has lived on the streets. Without a proof of identity he cannot get a job; he cannot get a place to live.
While living on the streets Clifford was arrested for possession of a paring knife and spent two months in the Cape May County jail.
He shared that he found a paring knife on the beach and shared his good fortune with a woman he befriended on the Boardwalk.
“I bumped into her that day and she asked me how I was doing. I told her I was doing great. And she said ‘Why? I thought you were homeless.’ I told her I had just found a paring knife on the beach and was going to use it to cut my food and peel my apples.”
According to Clifford he showed the woman the knife when she asked to see it.
“She looked at it and after she looked at it she gave it back to me. We separated and that’s when she called the cops on me. I was arrested.”
Incarcerated from Oct. 15 to Dec. 15, 2011, Clifford told the jail he had no identity and had no place to go.
“They told me to try the homeless hotline for emergencies,” he said. “But you have to have ID. With no ID you can’t get into emergency housing or the shelter.”
Clifford had a non-drivers photo identification issued by the state of New York in his missing wallet. According to him he was adopted and has no siblings or extended family. He does not know his Social Security number, having been paid in cash most of his life.
“I hardly ever used it,” he said of his Social Security number.
“I’ve been trying to get replacement ID. I went to Social Security. But you have to have ID to get replacement ID,” he said.
“It doesn’t make sense,” said Clifford. “But here’s the worst thing that doesn’t make sense. A foreigner can come into the United States and he can get a brand-new ID with no problems. But for us, living here, if we lose all of our ID, it’s impossible to get a replacement.”
Recently Clifford has had help in trying to obtain his identification documents. John Quinn, a local resident, met Clifford when the homeless man was on the Boardwalk.
“After speaking to him extensively,” said Quinn, “he is not just someone waiting to sponge off the system. He seems like the perfect person for the system to help get back on his feet. The first step would be getting him some sort of ID.”
“I tried all different places,” said Clifford in his quest to get identification. After leaving jail, in December or January, Clifford went to the county’s Social Services building to get help. “I haven’t heard back from them,” he said.
He has gone to different churches to get help. “Supposedly they have connections,” he said. “But every time I went to the different churches they said ‘Sorry, you have to get your own ID.’ But the different churches do feed you. At least you don’t go hungry.”
According to Clifford he owned a house in New York until he lost it to foreclosure this past fall. With both his parents dead, he continued to pay the mortgage payments on his mother’s house of $650 a month by sending in money orders until he started working with the sunglass dealer and was not paid.
“I paid in money orders,” he said, noting that he has never had a bank account.
“I was living there,” he said, referring to the house in New York. “Until I met up with this motorcycle guy.”
When asked what he would like people to know, Clifford said he would like people to understand “some homeless people are real nice.
“We don’t all drink and do drugs,” he said, noting this is the first time he has been homeless. Clifford added he does not drink, take drugs or smoke.
“You really never can figure out what to do,” said Clifford on adjusting to being homeless. “You just take it one step at a time.”
Quinn said he was initially dubious of Clifford’s story; however as he checked out the story, his story rings true.
“I made a call to Social Services and told them we are not trying to get benefits; we are just trying to get replacement ID.”
Quinn has also contacted Clifford’s school district in New York along with contacting the Atlantic City Rescue Mission. To date, no one has gotten back to him with an answer.
“At first I thought he was just another down and out Wildwood story,” said Quinn. “But after knowing him for a couple of weeks, I see how someone can slip into homelessness without the help from substance abuse or mental health problems.”
“No one ever thinks they will ever be homeless,” said Clifford, “But it happens.”
In an update to this story, Quinn contacted this paper to announce he had made contact with Clifford’s family in New York.
A member of the Herald staff researched Clifford’s mother’s obituary, which provided a list of survivors. Quinn was able to track down one of Clifford’s aunts who was then able to provide information about the man.
According to Quinn, a family member said she will come to Cape May County to reunite with Clifford and take him home.